For the last several years I have generally been critically supportive of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela and the renewed wave of radical sentiment and activity it has sparked in the rest of the Latin America. At the same time, while I was initially supportive of Rafael Correa and his so-called Citizens’ Revolution – which at first appeared to the extension of the Bolivarian Revolution to Ecuador – I have in recent years become quite hostile to him and his government.

For those who do not know, Correa and his PAIS Alliance (Proud and Sovereign Fatherland) came to power with the backing of Ecuador’s powerful indigenous and workers’ movements. These same movements brought down three presidents before Correa. So it is safe to say that there was much hope for what changes his leadership might bring. Read the rest of this entry →

It is no secret no that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez has spent time in Cuba recently in order to receive treatment for Cancer. While the agents of imperialist white power and parasitic capitalism in Venezuela have predictably been chomping at the bit with the thought that perhaps the charismatic leader of the country will soon depart the realm of the living, bigger concerns are now facing the Chávez movement. Chief among these is how will the process the “Bolivarian Revolution” continue sans Chávez? Who will take over leadership of the movement?

In particular the rivalry between Vice President Elías Jaua and ex-cabinet minister Jose Vicente Rangel seems ready to take centre stage if Chávez ever were to depart the presidency. Jaua in his student years was a member of Unión de Jóvenes Revolucionarios, the youth-wing of Bandera Roja. He has been at the centre of some of the most radical elements of the revolution. Rangel on the other hand is perhaps the most prominent figure within the military wing of the PSUV and has a great influence in the Venezuelan military. Read the rest of this entry →